Where’s best to live with a family in Dubai?

Dubai normally receives rave reviews as a centre of enterprise and commerce, as well as being a great place to live.

This sometimes gives rise to the quite erroneous impression that somehow life here is all about either young single people making a fortune or young professional couples doing likewise.  In practice, the reality is quite different and the city boasts a wide and diverse population.

Included in that diversity are a large number of expatriate families.

Now, magnificent as this city is as a place to live, just like any other city, not everywhere is equally well suited for young children.  Typically children up to their mid-teenage years require plenty of space to make noise in and don’t always necessarily welcome a journey to get there.

So, living in an apartment is fine if there are some open areas on the ground floor or in the immediate vicinity.  Living in a city centre apartment where the nearest open space for them to let off steam is a car drive away, is a very different and perhaps less attractive scenario for younger families.

Then there are the inevitable concerns over schooling.  Few parents welcome the thought of lengthy journeys to get the children to and from school but at the same time they are keen for them to have the best possible education.

So, trying to take all of these diverging requirements into consideration, here is a quick summary (not prioritised) of some potentially great areas for families to live in in and around Dubai:

• The Emirates Living environment. A well-known area with a very high standard of living and more importantly in the context of families, plenty of open spaces.  Playgrounds, swimming pools, parks and children’s entertainment areas, make this a firm hit with many families and somewhere likely to be popular with children;

• Arabian Ranches. Very popular with families because of the proximity of plentiful local shops and a wide range of sporting and other leisure activities.  This area might be particularly attractive also because of its famous English-speaking school as well as the fact that it is only 10-15 minutes away from the famous marina.  The close proximity of a golf course might appeal to parents and there is a very wide variety of properties to choose from in the area;

• The Green Community development. A fantastic development of properties in incredibly lush surroundings outside of the main business areas of the city.  Once again, the emphasis on walkways and open spaces coupled with some great recreation facilities, mean this is potentially an ideal location for many types of family;

• Jumeirah 1,2,3. This is an extraordinarily popular area consisting mainly of villas built around open areas with lots of green spaces and water features.  Benefitting from fantastic facilities for children and relatively easy commuting into the main city, some people are also attracted to the area by its proximity to excellent medical services and hospitals.

In fact, the city of Dubai and its surrounding developments offer a huge range of accommodation and excellent facilities for families to enjoy and prosper in.

Surprisingly, as a family thinking about relocating to the city, one of your major difficulties might be the fact that you are spoilt for choice in terms of where to live!